The present invention generally relates to a lacrosse head for attachment to a lacrosse handle, and more particularly to a lacrosse head including holes defined in the structure of the sidewalls of the head adapted to accommodate pocket strings.
Conventional lacrosse heads typically include an open frame having a ball stop joined with the base, a pair of sidewalls that diverge from the ball stop, and a scoop that connects the sidewalls, opposite the ball stop. The sidewalls generally include a lower portion, such as a lower rim, that defines multiple circular or elliptical string holes. A lacrosse net is strung to the lower rim via the string holes, around the back side of the frame, leaving the opposing side of the frame open for catching or shooting a lacrosse ball.
Many heads also are configured so that the netting hangs downward from the lowermost portion of the frame, having minimal to no contact with the sidewalls—other than where the net is attached to the lower rim of the sidewalls. While this construction frequently provides the desired amount of ball retention, it limits the configurations by which a player can string a net to the head and achieve a particular catching or shooting feel.
A modification to this limited, lower rim stringing configuration is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,791 to Nichols. There, instead of the lower rim of the head defining string holes, the upper rim of the sidewall, along with the transition region from the sidewall to the scoop, defines the string holes. With this configuration, a portion of the net can be positioned between the sidewalls of the head, so that the ball remains relatively high between the sidewalls. Such a configuration can be desired out of personal player preference, or to comply with certain lacrosse rules, such as the present NCAA Women's Lacrosse Rules, which require that the top of a lacrosse ball remains above the sidewalls when the ball is in the net. This top rim stringing configuration, however, goes to the other extreme by placing the net quite high in the head. Nichols also offers yet another construction where string holes are defined generally in the upper half of a solid sidewall. While altering the location where the net is strung to the wall, this construction still provides somewhat limited options to a player because the net is confined to a single predetermined location dictated by the manufacturer's placement of the string holes.